Christmas Therapy
by SephirothxAerith
Summary: The holiday only brings sorrow and bad memories to all of his friends. Is Angeal the only one who wants to celebrate Christmas this year?
1. Introduction: Angeal’s Wish

Introduction: Angeal's Wish

Some might call Angeal a simple being, for he still wished upon shooting stars as his mother had taught him as a wee child, and he still wrote to Santa every year, telling him of his desires and hopes for the holiday season and for the rest of the year round. In their world of many gods and superstitions, he had learned long ago where all deities originated, and which were real and which were not. Santa, of course, was one deity that was not real, but that didn't matter to him. He loved traditions and believed that they should always be followed so that they were never forgotten. If something can make someone smile, why change or ignore it?

None of his friends seemed to agree with him, though. In fact, most of them hated the holidays – Christmas in particular – and would be happier without them. This year Angeal wanted to show them _his_ reasons for loving the holidays. He ended his prayers and signed his letter to Santa with that desire: "My one wish is that I am finally able to make them understand what this day is all about."

He sealed the letter, walked to the ShinRa building, climbed all 67 flights of stairs, and, when on the rooftop, opened his hand to let the icy wind find his letter, steal it from his palm, and carry it away, over the cold, smoggy city to wherever it might go.

A heavy burden seemed to pass from him as the letter, with all his wishes and hopes, flew away.

He smiled a little, looked up to the sky, and asked, "Please help me. The greatest gift I could ever have would be to make them happy." He thought of this for several moments, and then, looking up again, told the night sky, "Oh, and Happy Birthday." As if in answer, a cloud moved across the sky, relieving one lone star. To be able to see a star in the smoggy sky of Midgar was a rare sight indeed. Angeal, smiling as brightly as a child who just got opened his first Christmas present, stared up at the twinkling star, imagining himself far away from the busy city, and back home in the quiet, peaceful countryside.


	2. Chapter 1: The Guest List

Chapter 1: The Guest List

Angeal had prepared a big Christmas celebration: he didn't tell his friends what he had in mind, but he just made them all promise they were going to be there. He invited the whole gang over for Christmas: Lazard, Rufus, Vincent, Zack, Cloud, Tseng, Reno, Rude, Elena, Cissnei, Sephiroth, and Genesis.

Each one of his guests suffered over the holidays:

To Rufus, Christmas was another day that brought about great resentment: all he could remember of the holiday was being alone in a big, empty house. His father was far away at a party with important guests or in his bedroom with a new lady, and the only thing he got from him those nights were dismissive grumbling and ranting lectures, until he hated his father and was happy to be alone.

To Lazard and Cloud, Christmas was when all their friends had everything they wanted: a nice house, a complete family, and plenty to eat and drink. But all they had was the guilty of their over-worked, depressed mother's tears as the poor ladies tried to explain why their house was so cold, why they didn't have warm enough clothes to wear, and why they couldn't find enough money for their meal that night.

To Tseng, Reno, Rude, Elena, Cissnei and Sephiroth, Christmas was a day at the orphanage when they were told to be grateful for the little they had: a cold, hard bed, scraps of food, and a broken roof over their heads. Christmas was when they were threatened to be thrown out onto the cold, snowy streets in their torn shoes or socks; when they were thrown out there, just to show them how grateful they should be to come back in; and when they were beaten because all six of the rebel children tried to run away those cold, winter days when they were let loose on the streets.

It was a day that symbolized family love and happiness: it was a day that reminded them of the mother and father that never loved them and abandoned them to their horrible fate.

To Vincent, Christmas meant the day the love of his life left him for another, turning him into a depressed, somber man with little passion or love for life.

To Zack, Christmas meant only another excuse to get smashed with his buddies, just as he had seen his father, grandfather and uncles do each year. He had no idea and no interest in finding out what the origin of the holiday was or how anyone else celebrated it.

Each one of Angeal's guests treated the stress and bad memories of the holiday in different ways: Cloud, friendless and alone, cried all night, wishing he were home with his mother and the girl he loved, Tifa.

Reno, Rufus, Rude, Lazard and Zack drank until they could drink no more.

Sephiroth, Tseng, Vincent, Elena, and Cissnei hid their pain and resentment behind a wall of melancholy and indifference. They pushed people aside: if they never liked or knew anyone, their hearts could not be broken anymore than they already were. And so it was every year.

The only person on his list who did not have a melancholy Christmas – at least, what Angeal considered melancholy – was Genesis, yet Genesis was the one who berated the holiday the most. Genesis's problem was simple: his father, believing himself to be a very logical and learned person, hated all religions – 'superstitious humbug meant to subjugate and control people' – and refused to let his son celebrate any holidays that had religious origins. Thus Genesis was never able to celebrate _any_ holidays, because his father always found some type of religious connection with them.

As a child Genesis was made fun of by his friends, who always had many toys and candies to show him each holiday. Soon Genesis hated the holidays, Christmas in particular.

All of this was to be no more. If Angeal were to get his way, he would have all twelve of his guests smiling and happy this Christmas, forgetting all their woes and sorrows. If he were to have his way, they would be warm and happy, well fed and loved. He wouldn't let any of their old sorrows torment them this Christmas…and, just for Genesis's sake, they would have lots of presents, too.


	3. Chapter 2: The Preparations

Chapter 2: The Preparations

It was hard making a meal for almost twenty people, especially when you had to do it all by yourself. There were five salmon and two big turkeys with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. Then there was salad, fruit salad and egg rolls – just for Genesis – to be prepared. Beans, corn and peas found their way onto the list of things for supper, also. Pies and desserts of every variety were to be made. And then cookies…so many cookies: sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, chocolate cookies, mint cookies, orange cookies, cookies of every kind and color. To complete the meal, there was spiced cider and eggnog to make, and the wine, milk, sodas, and chocolate milk – Cloud's favorite – to buy.

Before any of this could be done, he had to clean his house up. Having grown in a home where every penny counted on whether he would eat or not, everything he ever bought or was given was very precious. Even now, when he had money to spare, he patched his clothes and shoes. If anything broke, he fixed it. Nothing he bought or was given was thrown away. Puzzles, movies, books, three DVD players, watches, pottery, clothing, a Mickey Mouse watch – how did he get that?! – blankets, bed sheets, and everything he ever wanted as a child and was deprived of, was now available to him, and he had to have it – on sale, of course. Soon his house was a cluttered mess.

It broke his heart to go through his piles of treasures to decide what he had to get rid of; some of it was thrown away, but most of it was boxed and wrapped to give to the underprivileged in the slums.

All of the sorting and wrapping took a long time.

What also took along time was present buying – he tried to find really nice gifts for his guests and the underprivileged families he knew and meant to surprise this Christmas. Then, too, there was his and Genesis's mothers, several ShinRa friends and fellow soldiers, his mailman, the garbage and recycling disposal men, his veterinarian, and his favorite librarian to buy stuff for.

By time he was done with all this shopping, he was exhausted and nearly broke.

Luckily for him, he already had his holiday decorations (which he was actually able to find this year, as they had been buried with all the rest of his 'treasures' he had to clear out). Having the energy of nearly an hundred men, he decorated the gate outside his house, the few trees in front of it, the roof, and every window and doorway in the house. There were lights of every color, holly and mistletoe, and every garland imaginable, until his whole house looked like a fire-hazardous winter wonderland!

He put a huge tree in the living room to the side of the fireplace. The fireplace had several stockings hanging up, but most of the presents went under the tree. He hoped the others would remember gifts for each other, but, if they didn't, he'd still be able to give them plenty!


	4. Chapter 3: Santa’s Letter

Chapter 3: Santa's Letter

A petite girl walked along the muddy streets of the slum. There was never much she could do during the winter, and now that school was out, there was even less to do. One thing she was going to do this Christmas, though, was to enjoy the sights of the upper part of the city.

Even the slums, with the few light displays and Christmas trees seen through the windows, looked cheerer this time of the year, and she could only imagine how bright and beautiful everything up there must look. She had to see all the lights, wreaths, and, of course, the special ShinRa Christmas Parade at midnight on Christmas night!

As she was walking along, breathing into her torn gloves, her thin boots kicked into something. It was a small, thick white envelope with a thin layer of snow over it. Blowing and brushing the snow off, she read: "To Santa", "From: Angeal Hewley" with his address following.

Bitting her bottom lip, she pondered opening it for a few seconds. Curiosity finally got the best of her, so she tore the envelope open and looked over the ten or so messily written pages. Standing under a lamppost, she began her long read.


	5. Chapter 4: The Grinches and the Binge Pa

Chapter 4: The Grinches and the Binge Party

"Oh, come on babe, it's Christmas – don't be a Grinch!" Reno begged Knife, getting several annoyed looks from his fellow passengers on the subway as he yelled into his phone to be heard over all the noise. "Tell me where it is. You know I've been looking forward to this party for so long. Don't do this to me, yo. Angeal will never know where I am."

All he heard was a click as the other Turk hung up her phone. Reno cursed several times and kicked the seat in front of him, getting many more annoyed looks.

"Piss off, bitches," he growled. For some reason no one wanted to mess around with the angry, violent, thug-looking youth, and they all silently turned away.

* * *

Knife hung up her phone and looked at the young SOLDIER in front of her. "What is it now Zack?"

"Where is it?" Zack demanded. Knife was just about to respond when Zack interrupted, "Come on, babe! You know I've been looking forward to this party all damn year. What fun is Christmas if you can't get smashed?"

The Turk shook her head at the young SOLDIER. "Nope. No can do."

"Come on, you gotta."

Knife was just about to answer when her cell phone rang again – realizing it was Reno, she turned the ringer off.

"Nope, you and Reno have that draconian SOLDIER after you two. If he finds out that you're at our party instead of his, we'll be in big trouble. As it is, he completely destroyed our Valentines Day party."

Zack grumbled a little at the thought – before Angeal and Sephiroth were around there were apparently parties every night in most of the barracks. But Sephiroth – believing it to ruin the military order, especially after the incident where several SOLDIERS binged at a local tavern, and dueled and killed each other while on a mission in Wutai – and Angeal – believing it to hurt the soldiers – put an instant stop to all the parties. Now, if they were lucky, they could sneak a binge party here and there during the holidays, but it always had to be undercover.

There was a Christmas Party planned – only a few friends and their friends knew where it was going to be – and ordinarily Reno and Zack would be the first two to be invited, but, upon finding out that Angeal had something in mind for them to attend, no one would tell either of them where or when it was.

"Please!" Zack begged, dropping to his knees in front of the Turk. "Please Knife, you gotta tell! Please!!" Bobbing his head to the side, giving her a toothy grin, he asked her, "Please? 'Cause you're pretty? You wouldn't refuse a man on his knees, would you?"

Knife, probably afraid that she would tell if she stayed around, turned without saying a word. Zack chased after her, still on his knees, imploring her.

* * *

"That bastard Angeal! How dare he?" Reno cursed. "They won't tell me anything. No one will: not even Rufus."

"That bastard Cloud was invited, but not me," Zack growled. "And he refuses to tell me where the party is…"

"You know what he's gonna do, don't you?!" Reno yelled into his cell phone. "He's gonna do something really gay, like make us watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' or 'A Christmas Carol'."

Zack cringed at the thought. "You know, now that you mention it, he was telling me how I should read that book. He even threatened to read it to me."

"Oh gods!" Reno exclaimed. "He wouldn't make us stay up all night as he read to us, would he?!" Zack said something on the other end that Reno couldn't quite hear, so Reno continued, "I can't do that man. I hate reading – you know I haven't read a book in almost a decade. I can't spend all Christmas hearing some dumbass read some old dead dumbass's bull while I could be getting wasted!" He got many more shocked stares.

"That's it," Zack declared, "I'm going to call Cloud again. If he doesn't tell me, so help me, I'll get it from him no matter what!"

* * *

"Mr. Hewley, sir?" Cloud whispered into his phone.

"Cloud? Are you there yet?" Angeal asked.

"Not yet sir."

"What's wrong Cloud?"

"Well, sir, I was thinking, if they find out it was me who told them where they're having their binge party… Well, you know how I don't have many friends sir…"

Angeal nodded. The truth was that Cloud, for whatever reason he wasn't sure, was not very popular. Cloud got much better grades than most of his peers, which made many jealous. And then he was a small boy, thinner and shorter than most, with looks that made all the girls glance. He was shy, dirt poor, had an accent, and was from far away "in the sticks". The thing that irked the bullies more than anything else about him, though, was that he was a very gentlemanly boy and never gave into any vices – not even swearing, which Angeal often did when he was angry.

"Don't worry, Cloud, I won't let anyone know it was you."

"Also, sir, Zack keeps calling me. He's insisting that I tell him where the party is – and now he has Reno calling me, too. I don't know what to do."

Angeal thought for a moment or two. "You know what? I want you to tell him if he asks again, alright?"

"Okay," Cloud agreed, "But why? What if Zack drinks – Ahhh!" Cloud jumped when he saw Zack standing in front of him. He slammed his cell phone shut. "Z,Zack?!"

"Cloud."

"Zack, what do you want?" Cloud asked, his face pale.

"Who were you just talking to?"

"No one!"

"Why did you hang up so quickly?"

"Why? Um, I didn't."

"You're a bad liar."

"No I'm not."

"Who was it?!" Zack demanded.

"No one! I can't tell you!"

"It was Knife, wasn't it?"

"Huh?"

"It was Knife, wasn't it? She was telling you not to tell me anything."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Cloud answered, "I can't tell you."

"Aha – I knew it!"

"Look, Zack, I have somewhere to go…" Cloud told him as he slipped away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast buddy," Zack said, grabbing his arm. Cloud pulled away. "You can't go until you tell me where it is."

"I can't tell you."

"I'll just follow you there then."

"Please Zack, you know you're not supposed to be going there. You almost died last year because of your partying."

Zack grinned sheepishly. "So I passed out on the train tracks. I had a _little_ too much to drink. That doesn't mean that it'll happen again this year."

"Zack, I can't tell you where the party is. You know you drink too much. Just think how your mother would have felt if Angeal hadn't found, and you ended up dead."

"Yea, yea, yea! Look, I don't need a lecture, okay? Why the hell are you going, anyways? You never drink."

"Oh, I know… I just thought maybe the guys would like me better if I went there. Think I'm tough, you know? I don't actually intend to drink anything."

Zack's face went pale. "Cloud, you do realize they won't allow that, don't you? I mean, the reason we have these is to get drunk – I mean _drunk_. Binge drinking, Cloud. There's no way they'll let you go there without drinking anything. Actually, since you don't drink, they'll probably try to force a lot into you."

"Well, I thought I'd get a bottle or glass and pretend to drink from it, and everyone else will be so drunk they won't notice it's the same bottle. Then, when everyone gets back from Christmas vacation, they'll think I'm tough."

Zack laughed heartily at this and shook his head at his young friend. "Oh, Cloud, Cloud, Cloud. One of these days you're going to kill yourself, buddy!" Interlocking his arm with Cloud's, he told him, "So come on, take me to the party."

Cloud hesitated for a second. "Only if you promise to drink as much as I drink."

"Whoa, Spikey, are you trying to make _me_ force you to drink?!"

"No, Zack, I'm serious!" Cloud answered, pulling away from his friend. "I want you to promise to control yourself tonight."

"No can do."

"Then I won't take you to the party."

"Then I'll _make_ you tell me where it is."

"How?"

"I'll break your arm if need be."

"I'll slug you in the face if you come near me," he threatened, defensively raising his fist.

"I'll beat the shit out of you if you even think of hitting me," Zack answered, slightly offended by his friend's show of aggression.

"I'll kick your ass."

"I'll kick yours first."

"I'll kick yours hardest."

"I'll kick –"

"Oh shut the hell up you idiots or I'll kick both of your asses!" a very annoyed Reno cursed as he came up to them. "Now, tell me where the party is or Zack and I will _both_ kick your ass." Cloud shook his head "no". "Listen you little punk," he roared, "no one's gonna ruin my day tonight!"

"… … … All right, chill. But if I show you were it is, you're going to have to act like you really forced it out of me. Otherwise Knife and the guys will kill me for sure."

"I really _am_ forcing it out of you," Reno growled between clenched teeth, his face red with aggravation and anger.

"No, I'm serious," Cloud told him. "I can't get in trouble with them – you have to make it like you'd kill me or something if I didn't tell you were it was."

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU IDIOT!!" Reno cried. "Now take me to my party!"


	6. Chapter 5: Dog Pile

Chapter 5: Dog Pile

They entered a dingy-looking bar deep in the slums. Cloud looked around nervously at the many leather-clad patrons, the sexy, half-clothed waitresses and dancers, and the gangsters in the front of the bar. Cigar and cigarette smoke misted the room. There was vomit on the floor, men and women openly doing drugs, and prostitutes finding customers.

A man fell off his chair, unconscious, in front of Cloud as he walked by. Cloud stopped, horrified, unsure if he dare help the man. Zack pushed him forward. "Get going," he grumbled.

Cloud nervously moved forward, gawking at the many forms of low-lives all gathered into one place. He got several glares, but, seeing Zack and Reno beside him, no one bothered to say or do anything to him.

Cloud moved – rather, was practically pushed – to the far end of the bar, and knocked three times on a big metal door, paused and then knocked two more times. The door was opened and the trio entered.

This room was not nearly as oppressive as the place they had just come from, and Cloud breathed a sigh of relief – having allergies, that much smoke in one place always affected his breathing. He didn't want to go into another coughing and gagging fit as he fought for fresh air: it wouldn't look cool to his friends.

Two Guns, another Turk, gawked at Reno. "You brought them to us?!" he demanded of Cloud.

"I'm sorry – they forced me to. They were going to beat me up," Cloud lied.

Two Guns shook his head at Reno, and stepping away from Cloud, told Reno, "That's dirty man… You shouldn't beat up on him."

"Cloud?"

"Yea. You wouldn't beat up on a kid in a wheelchair would you?"

"No! … Cloud's no kid in a wheelchair, though."

"He might as well be…" Lowering his voice even more, he whispered, "Look, from what they've told me, he's disabled," pointing to his head, he continued, "Up here. That's why Zack always keeps an eye out for him."

"Don't be an idiot!" Reno snapped. "There's nothing wrong with Cloud! He's not slow – he's just an idiot. I mean, he grew up in the sticks, man: of course he acts different than we do. Hey, Cloud, is there anything wrong with you?"

"Huh?" Cloud asked, jerked back from his observations of the room to the conversation beside him.

"Is there something wrong with you?"

"With me? I don't think so. I mean, I haven't taken my temperature recently, but I don't feel very sick or anything. Then again, I probably _am_ sick – I have a very weak immune system, and I get sick nearly every week. I do have slight allergies, too, if that's what you mean. The smoke in the bar kinda affected them. … Why? Do I look sick to you? I haven't been taking my Golden Seal Root caplets like ma told me to. She sends me some every month or two so I don't run out. Back at home, anytime we were sick, we always took them."

Reno's facial expression was one of annoyance. "See? Hicks…" he told Two Guns.

"_Slow_ hick. You know what they do up in those parts of the country. Your mother is your father's sister…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what did you just say?!" Zack, who had been vaguely following the conversation, demanded. "Did you say country boys are inbred?"

Zack, himself a country boy, looked ready to pounce on the Turk. Thankfully, three heavy knocks fell on the door, followed by two more, and Two Guns quickly ran to open it to the new arrival. He gasped as soon as he did and tried to shut it immediately, but Angeal's arm out powered his whole body. "The Grinch! Grab the booze! Quickly, get out!"

Angeal pushed the Turk to the side, and surveyed the whole scene. "Everyone in this room is under arrest," he told them, his voice echoing through the silent room. "No ShinRa soldiers are to engage in binge drinking; you know the rules. If you guys wanted to get drunk, you could have done it at the ShinRa party tonight. You have no business in this bar." Glancing over it's participants, his eyes fell on two people in particular: "Zachary Wilmer Herbert Fair the Third, what in Minerva's name are you doing here?! And Cloud?!" he gasped, faking shock at the sight of the young soldier. Cloud, even though he knew that the SOLDIER was not really disappointed in him, could not help but feel guilty for being there. He hung his head as Angeal's booming voice scolded him, "Cloud Leaf Strife? You, of all people! What in hell were you thinking?!"

"I'm…I'm sorry…"

"All of you leave now. Reno, Zachary, Cloud, you're coming with me. The rest of you are going directly to the ShinRa party where you can drink as much as you want, under surveillance and supervision. … Well, move!"

At first no one moved when Angeal spoke, but then, Zack, angered at having their party broken up before it even began, cried out, "DOG PILE! Get the Grinch!"

Cloud watched in horror as everyone in the room ran up to the SOLDIER and jumped on him. Even more to his amazement was when Angeal rose from above all the bodies that jumped on him, grabbed three or more grunts, Turks and SOLIDERS in each hand and tossed them aside, or bonked their heads together and then dropped them. After a few minutes, Angeal was the only one standing; all the others were on the ground beside him with nasty bruises on their foreheads.

Angeal helped all the party participants up, and, to their horror, smashed all the booze they had there. He took one bottle of 80 proof, though, and tucked it under his arm.

"And now Ladies and Gentlemen, before we go to the ShinRa party tonight, I am enlisting your assistance in breaking up the riffraff in the other room: your supervisors won't be as mad at you for this if they find out you helped me tonight."

"But, yo, if we do that, no other bar is going to let us have our parties there," Reno objected as he felt the bump forming on his head.

Angeal raised one brow in a very agitated manner. "Well, two birds with one stone…"

The participants in the room glared at him, but all obeyed.

There was a small ShinRa raid on the bar that night, which was good, considering a number Don Corneo's men were out partying; ShinRa officials had been trying to clear up the Don's group of riffraff for a while.

The thugs, prostitutes, johns, druggies, and other low lives were rounded up, after a small fight in which Cloud ended up with a black eye, and brought and booked at a local jail. The Turks and soldiers were then brought to the ShinRa party.

Along the way Angeal sent word to each of their commanding officers (even Cloud's so as to not cause any suspicion) of their doings and instructions to have them all watched that night.

* * *

"We're going to be late. I told Genesis and the others to be there by 5:00. It's already 5:30," Angeal contemplated sourly as he, Zack, Cloud and Reno trudged through the snow. Zack and Reno glared at him. "Cheer up guys!"

Shooting him another angry glare, Reno told Zack, "They're gonna kill us, yo. Knife said it was our fault, and now she wants our hides. That babe is _mean_. Hey, were you following us?!" he suddenly demanded of Angeal.

"How do you think I found out where your party was?" Angeal asked, wondering what they both thought happened.

"Son of a –"

"Oh stop swearing! Honestly, you and Zack swear too much, drink too much, and speed too much. Lose some of the vices."

"Hey, at least I don't smoke!" Zack defended as he caught sight of Reno taking a cigarette out of his pocket.

Reno glared at him, crumpled it up, and threw it onto the ground. Angeal quickly picked it up because he didn't believe in littering. "Oh, thanks. At least I didn't bring the little kid along."

"It wasn't my fault Cloud was there! He was going anyways – I just went along with him."

"It wasn't either of our faults," Reno elaborated further on the lie. "Honestly, neither of us where going to go until Cloud begged us to come with him – he said he'd feel alone if we weren't there. We tried to convince him, but when he refused to listen to us, we decided we _had_ to go along just to protect him."

Cloud looked at him, horrified. "That's not true! You threatened to kill me - Kill me! – if I didn't take you to the bar." Reno objected loudly to this. "And Zack threatened to break my arm."

Zack gasped. "Me? I would never do anything like that."

"Yes you did."

"Why would I hurt you, buddy?" Zack asked, grabbing Cloud's hair and pulling on it.

"Ow, don't touch me!"

"You're such a drama queen…" Reno grumbled.

"Shut up Reno!" Cloud yelled, pulling on his long, brightly colored ponytail.

"Ow! You son-of-a – Get back here you coward!" Reno cried as he chased after Cloud.

Angeal rolled his eyes. It was going to be a long walk back to his house. A long, long, _long_ walk…


	7. Chapter 6: The Partiers Arrive

Chapter 6: The Partiers Arrive

Angeal was nearly at his wits end by time they reached his house. All twenty minutes of the walk had been taken up by bickering. Zack and Reno at first pinned all the blame for them being at a binge drinking party on Cloud, who, unbeknownst to them, had actually led Angeal there to break it up. After Cloud protested their story, they soon started bickering between each other, making lies about each other to deflect blame off themselves.

This led to verbal insults and threats. Then they turned their anger onto Angeal, and tried a second dog pile on him. They didn't even make him sway. He knocked them to the ground, picked them up by the scruffs of their necks, and knocked their heads together again. With just a little quiet, angry grumbling, they trudged along in resentful peace.

Angeal shook his head, pondering if a mother dog had to put up with as much trouble from her frolicsome pups as he did with these two.

* * *

Just as they reached his house, and Angeal was about to unlock the door, wondering why his friends weren't there yet, a loud blast, as if from a car horn, assaulted his ears. He turned to see two cars nearly collide into the big metal gate in front of his driveway. One, a large limousine, blasting its horn, just barely avoided the gate as it quickly swerved out of the way of a smaller, but expensive town car.

The town car sped up to the house's steps, nearly creaming Zack, Reno and Cloud – the three jumped into a large snow bank to the side – and slammed to a halt, skidding a little so that the wheels touched the bottom steps.

"Hey, Gen!" Angeal greeted as the red-haired SOLDIER jumped out of the driving seat.

The SOLDIER didn't seem to be in a good mood, as he stared daggers first at Angeal and then at the trio he nearly ran over. "I know! I'm late! I don't care though – it's not my fault – it's that idiot Sephiroth's. He was going on about some attack tonight or some $%^$ like that; he's determined to believe that the message we intercepted means there's going to be an attack on the President tonight – he was at the ShinRa party, trying to protect the president from ghosts or terrorists or some &8$* like that." Angeal looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Anyway, I don't even want to be here!" Genesis continued rambling after he caught a breath of air. "And what the hell was Tseng doing driving like that?!"

Angeal watched in wonderment as Genesis stormed over to the limousine he had nearly collided with, which was now neatly parked to the side of the driveway.

Tseng got out of the drivers seat and opened up the side doors, allowing Rufus ShinRa, Lazard, and several Turks out.

Roughly grabbing his shoulder, Genesis demanded of Tseng, "You moron! What type of driving was that?! Did you want to kill me?!"

A shout of protest arose from the Turks, as Tseng, Vincent, Cissnei, Elena, and Rude all began to complain to Genesis of how they were nearly killed by his reckless driving.

Zack and Reno, angry at what had just happened, and looking for a fight after Angeal "ruined" their evening, joined in on the yelling match.

It was one against ten, all of their voices drowning each other out. Angeal just sighed as he fiddled with his key ring, trying to find the house key in the massive bundle.

"Look, we'll ask Sephiroth!" Genesis yelled over the roaring crowd. "He was with me – he saw it all. Let's ask him who was at fault." Everyone seemed to quiet for this. "Well where is the moron?!" Genesis growled.

Stomping over to the car, he opened the door. The General was inside, as was evidenced by the long silver hair, which caught on the wind as soon as the door opened. He made no effort to move from the seat, so Genesis reached in and pulled him out.

Sephiroth's face was paler than usual, and the pupils in his eyes were such a thin sliver that they might not even be there. His friends knew this look: it was the look he got only in intense combat when death seemed certain.

He didn't seem to notice that Rufus ShinRa and Executive Manager Lazard – in matching white tuxes with white coats – and a group of Turks and SOLDIERS gathered round him.

"So, who was at fault?" Rufus demanded.

Sephiroth stared off into the distance, his fist clenched and waiting to call on Masamune, as if he were expecting an attack at any second. Angeal stepped in front of the crowd and put two firm, reassuring hands on Sephiroth's shoulder.

"Don't worry: it's over now," he reassured him. "I'm sorry: I won't ever have Genesis pick you up again, I swear." Sephiroth looked up at him, a little color coming back to his face. "I know, sometimes it still scares even me, though I've carpooled with him for two years. Zack and Reno are also bad, but not quite _that_ bad."

Genesis glared at him.

Now that Sephiroth seemed to calm down, as the pupils in his eyes seemed to have returned to a normal size, Angeal asked, "Alright, now the Vice President wants to know who it was that caused the near accident outside my house."

Sephiroth, finally noticing the group in front of him, grew a little embarrassed. "It was Genesis," he told the Vice President. "Sir, am I getting a Christmas present from you this year?"

This took Rufus by surprise. "Well…Yes…"

Very seriously, he told Rufus, "Please, sir, all I want is for you to take his license away from him."

Genesis's eyes bulged out of his head. "Well!" he declared and stormed up to Angeal's house. "I'm getting out of this cold, _Angie_."

"Okay, _Genny_", he shot back. "Sir, I know his driving is really bad, but I don't think it's worth taking his license away from him."

"I couldn't…" Rufus muttered. "It wouldn't look right to take away a SOLDIER's driving license."

Sephiroth looked supremely disappointed.


End file.
